IC-NRLF 


SB    E75    hi? 


WAR 

50NNRTS 


JA^VIN 
LLINS 
WOODBURY" 


WAR      SONNETS 

by 
BENJAMIN  COLLINS  WOODBURY 


"Life's  battle  is  a  conquest  for  the  strong; 
The  meaning  shows  in  the  defeated  thing." 

— John  Masefield. 


COPYRIGHT 

BENJAMIN    COLLINS    WOODBURY 
1918 


To   my   brother   overseas   and   to   my 
sister  in  the  service  of  the  Red  Cross. 


448715 


CONTENTS 

PROEM:  Page 

Ten  Hundred  Thousand  More     -    -    -  9,   1 0,   1  1 

SONNETS 

War  -      15 

Neutrality 17 

At  Sea      -  -      19 

Anachronism  -          -          -          -          -  -          21 

To  Belgium        -          -          -          -  -                 23 

To  France      -          -          -          -  -          25 

To  England        -          -          -          -  -          -27 

Poland 29 

Reims        -                                 -  -      31 

The  Old  Front  Line  33 

Washington        -          -          -          -  -                35 

Tolstoi  37 

Rupert  Brooke    -  -      39 

To  Gregory    -          -          -          -          -  -          41 

The  Caduceus 43 

The  Red  Cross       -  45 

To  Hermann  Hagedorn         -          -  -                47 

Gone  East     -  49 

Lafayette                                 -  -     51 

The  Men  Who  Stay  at  Home  -  53 

Victory     -                                          -.  -     55 

To  Germany  in  Defeat      -          -          -  -          57 

Our  Country       -  -          -      59 

The  Perfect  Way    -  61 

The  Coming   Race      -          -          -  -          -     63 


PROEM 


"I  think  that  these  four  qualities  are 
indispensable  in  a  great  general — 
knowledge  of  military  affairs,  valor, 
authority  and  good  fortune." 

— Cicero. 


TEN  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  MORE* 

We  are  coming,  Father  Pershing,  ten 

hundred  thousand  more, 
From  eastward  and  from  westward,  from 

the  broad  Pacific  shore; 
We  leave  our  fields  and  offices,  our 

wives  and  loved  ones  dear, 
With  spirits  full  of  courage,  without 

a  single  fear; 
We  dare  to  look  behind  us,  nor  dread 

what  lies  before: 

We  are  coming,  Father  Pershing,  ten  hun 
dred  thousand  more! 

If  you  look  across  the  house-tops  that 

fringe  the  western  sky, 
Swift  darting  flights  of  birdmen  your 

vision  may  descry; 
And  now  the  wind  an  instant  pulls 

Old  Glory's  veil  aside, 

*With  apology  to  James  Sloan  Gibbons,  author 
of  'Three  Hundred  Thousand  More,"  July  2,  1862. 


And  lo!  a  mighty  argosy  rolls  on 

in  strength  and  pride, 
And  hosts  with  gleaming  helmets  all  clad 

in  khaki  pour: 

We  are  coming,  Father  Pershing,  ten  hun 
dred  thousand  more! 

If  you  glance  down  hill  and  valley  where 
growing  cornfields  shine, 

You  may  see  our  student  army  fast  fall 
ing  into  line; 

While  juvenile  Crusaders  are  learn 
ing  the  country's  needs, 

And  thus  with  plough  and  spindle  sow 
not  in  words  but  deeds; 

And  for  every  home  left  vacant  there 
rise  two  martyrs  more: 

We  are  coming,  Father  Pershing,  ten  hun 
dred  thousand  more! 


10 


You  have  called  us,  and  we're  coming, 
by  convoy  o'er  the  tide, 

To  die  if  need  in  Flanders  fields,  our 
brothers'  bones  beside, 

And  from  the  enemies  of  freedom  to  wrench 
the  dripping  sword, 

Or  in  the  face  of  foreign  foe  to  frag 
ments  break  the  horde. 

Ten  hundred  thousand  men  and  more 
as  true  have  gone  before: 

We  are  coming,  Father  Pershing,  ten  hun 
dred  thousand  more! 


11 


'Justice  we  love,  and  next  to  justice  peace." 

— George  Edward  Woodberry. 


12 


SONNETS 


"I  am  the  death  of  Life, 
I  am  the  life  of  Death, 

I  am  War! 

I  am  the  death  of  Joy, 
I  am  the  joy  of  Death, 
I  am  War!" 

— Alter  Brody. 


14 


WAR 

Gigantic  foje,  whose  armaments  of  steel 
Bray  forth;  a  lion  straining  at  his  chain 
A  demon  in  whose  fever-maddened  brain 

Are  captive  all  the  host  of  commonweal; 

The  millions  who  the  woe  and  horror  feel 
Of  sabre  thrust,  the  grief  and  biting  pain, 
The  sacrifice  of  sons  who  die  in  vain, 

The  secrets  of  thy  selfish  soul  reveal. 

Ah,  what  an  end  to  gain  and  what  a  price 
Can  peace  prevail  at  such  a  bitter  cost? 

Oh,  spare  the  pangs  and  cast  anew  the  dice 
Of  horrid  war;  the  day  that's  won  or  lost 

The  evils  to  the  end  thereof  suffice; 

Oh>  save  us,  God,  such  needless  holocaust ! 


15 


"Neutrality  is  no  longer  feasible  or 
desirable  where  the  peace  of  the  world 
is  involved  and  the  freedom  of  its  peo 
ples..  .  .We  hare  seen  die  last  of 

trality  D  sucta  circumstances* 
— Prewint  W3»n,  to 
April,  1917. 


NEUTRALITY 

Neutrality !  when  in  the  face  of  fate 

Belligerents  with  overt  acts  conspire^ 

Lay  waste  the  land  with  battle's  burning  pyre: 
\\Tien  jingotsts  on  justice  fair  would  prate 
On  liberty  and  freedom  of  the  state. 

Consumed  by  greed  and  passion's  bitter  ire, 

Insatiate  with  war  and  vain  desire. 
Shall  we  still  to  the  end  impartial  wait? 

The  Lion  rampant  in  his  Island  lair 

Is  lifting  loud  his  voice  that  war  may  cease, 

The  Eagle's  darkling  wing  a  truce  doth  wear* 
The  Tricolor  would  seek  a  glad  rel 

From  wanton  war;  the  face  of  the  Great  Bear 

Doth  menace:   hear.  O  Lord,  our  prayer  for  peace. 


17 


"Great  God,  whose  path  upon  the  deep 
Is  still  unknown,  but  who  didst  keep 
Thine  ancient  people,  when  the  wind 
And  Egypt  followed  fast  behind: 
O  hear  us,  when  our  prayer  to  thee 
Ascends  for  those  we  love  at  sea." 

— Stopford  Augustus  Brooke. 


"The  freedom  of  the  seas  is  the  sine 

qua  non  of  peace,  equality  and  co-oper- 

•      >» 
ation. 

— President  Wilson. 


18 


AT  SEA 

As  borne  upon  the  iridescent  waves, 

To  muse  unmoved  by  ship's  accustomed  toss 

Like  steady  rider  on  a  dancing  horse, 

To  ride  the  billows,  o'er  their  crests  and  caves 

Serene  no  matter  how  the  wind  behaves; 

To  dream,  as  beats  the  winged  albatross 

Upon  the  decks,  and  then  to  look  across 

The  sky  and  think  of  countless  sunken  graves 

Unmarked  by  cross,  unkept  by  human  hand; — 

To  think  where  skirts  the  changing  distant  shore 

War  reigns;  while  homeward  where  the  hidden  strand 

Uprises,  there  is  peace :    let  us  implore 

Dear  God,  may  Thou  at  Thy  supreme  command 

Decree  that  this  great  sin  shall  be  no  more! 


'I  must  be  cruel,  only  to  be  kind." 
— Hamlet,  Act.   Ill,  Scene  iv. 


20 


ANACHRONISM 

Across  the  skies  where  shone  Hope's  rising  star 
O'er  loyal  homes  where  innocence  didst  sleep, 
Where  faithful  mothers  anxious  vigil  keep, 

The  god  of  war  has  flung  his  shafts  afar 

In  blood  has  writ  his  black  anathema. 

O'er  land  and  sea  his  hostile  armies  sweep 
While  heaven's  hosts  in  tearful  silence  weep, 

And  still  uncrowned  sits  earth's  New  Avatar. 

O  bitter  thought  that  in  the  heaven  high 

The  sun  of  truth  for  which  true  martyrs  bled, 

Once  more  must  rise  o'er  land  where  heroes  die, 
While  hopes  of  peace  howe'er  remote  have  fled ; 

Great  God!  canst  look  with  unrelenting  eye, 
While  man  reverts  to  savage  traits  long  dead? 


21 


"Belgium  may  be  invaded.  Hie 
Belgian  people  will  never  be  con 
quered  nor  crushed.  The  Belgian  peo 
ple  cannot  die.  .  .  .  Their  soil, 
watered  by  the  blood  of  millions  of 
warriors,  is  the  most  fertile  in  Europe 
in  the  harvests  of  the  soul." 

— Remain   Holland. 


TO  BELGIUM 

"OMNIUM  FORTISSIMI  SUNT  BELGAE" 

Not  strength  in  arms  doth  make  thy  nation  great 

Thy  greatness  is  in  wealth  of  soul  untold; 

Not  all  thy  kings,  from  stalwart  Leopold 
And  William,  silent,  unintimidate, 
In  pure  descent  to  Albert  called  the  Great; 

But  fearless,  with  a  courage  dauntless,  bold, 

With  spirit  imperturbable  of  old, 
Thy  people  constitute  the  perfect  State. 

Renascent  Belgium,  from  the  black  remains 
Of  fallen  cities,  Ghent,  Liege,  Namur, 

A  newer  sun  shall  blot  away  thy  stains; 

Thy  country  plundered,  burned  and  pillaged  sore, 

Thy  works  of  art,  and  beautiful  Louvain, 

From  these  grim  ashes  thou  shall  rise  once  more. 


23 


"Kings  and  empires  die,  great  ideas, 
once  they  are  born,  can  never  die 
again." 

— H.  G.  Wells. 


24 


TO  FRANCE 

Brave  scions  of  an  ancient  heraldry, 

Land  of  the  stalwart  musketeer  and  lance 
For  long  enwrapt  in  medieval  trance; 

But  once  from  rule  of  Bourbon  kings  set  free 

Thy  loyalty  has  swept  from  sea  to  sea. 
Thy  savants  thy  rich  heritage  enhance, 
O  beauty-loving,  freedom-breathing  France, 

Undaunted  in  the  cause  of  liberty. 

For  every  son  that  dies  for  freedom's  sake 
Above  the  battle's  black  and  bloody  moil, 

For  every  noble  pinioned  at  the  stake, 
For  every  maid  a  servant  of  the  soil, 

A  freeman  sheds  his  blood  to  life  partake 
And  blessed  is  to  each  his  common  toil. 


25 


"Who  stands  if  England  fall? 
Who  die*  if  England  live?" 

— Rudyard  Kipling. 


"To  our  great  kinsmen  of  the  West,  my  friends, 
And  the  great  name  of  England,  round  and  round.1 

— Tennyson. 


TO  ENGLAND 

Thou  England,  mother  of  a  stalwart  race 

From  out  thine  island  womb  in  quickening  birth 
To  rule  in  distant  corner  of  the  earth.— 

Amenca.  thy  child,  whoso  term  and  grace 

Thy  visage  bears,  thine  upright  stature,  face; 
Though  distant  far,  an  alien  from  thy  hearth 
And  prodigal.  wo  bring  our  dearest  worth 

And  at  thy  feet  our  loyalty  we  place. 

O  parent  country,  noblest  of  the  great. 

Land  of  the  blooming  hawthorn  and  the  rose, 
A  kingdom  from  an  ancient  feudal  state; 

1  .and  which  the  heart  ot  true  dcNotion  knows 
I  hy  people  tor  then  tine  redemption  wait. 
I  pheld  within  the  taith  thy  strength  bestows. 


II 


"Do  you  not  know  that  freedom  is  a 
noble  and  valuable  thing?" 

— Epictetus. 


28 


POLAND 

TO  S.  de  B. 

Kingdom  with  heart  that  dreams  of  noble  things 
Land  where  a  captive  royal  legion  cries 
A  country  without  bound  save  air  and  skies, 

Nation  with  deathless  loyal  voice  that  sings 

A  state  to  which  truth's  sovereign  aegis  clings ; 
For  every  son  that  as  an  alien  dies 
Above  his  mound  shall  three  more  faithful  rise, 

Before  the  plain  where  sleep  thy  buried  kings. 

Canst  bind  the  prostrate  Eagle  where  she  lies 
Canst  quench  the  flaming  torch  of  liberty? 

Nay:  Poland's  flag  shall  sweep  across  the  skies, 
Kosciusko's  eye  will  flash  with  victory 

Again  shall  Sobieski's  spirit  rise, 

And  then  in  thine  own  right  shalt  thou  be  free! 


29 


'The  smile,"   they  called  her, — "La  Sourire;"- 

— Florence  Earle  Coates: 
The  Smile  of  Reims. 


30 


REIMS 

Here  rich,  resplendent  on  its  bright  facade, 

Where  stately  kings  and  priests  of  high  renown 
Once  worshipped  under  sacerdotal  gown, 

Where  grinning  gargoyles  on  its  transept  played 

And  legion  statues  sat  in  pomp  arrayed, 

From  flying  buttress  o'er  the  quaint  old  town 
The    sculptured    Angel    from    her    shrine    looked 
down, — 

Here  Saint  Remi  and  pagan  Clovis  prayed. 

Now  all  is  dust;  where  knelt  Le  Beau  Dieu, 

Where  flashed  the  sun  on  jeweled  wall  its  gleams 

The  smiling  Angel  weeps  a  bitter  tear; 

A  million  shells  have  burst  in  shattered  Reims, 

Seraphic  is  the  face  of  "La  Sourire," 
Within  the  magic  city  of  our  dreams. 


31 


"All  wars  end;    even  this  war  will 
some  day  end." 

— John  Masefield: 
The  Old  Front  Line. 


32 


THE  OLD  FRONT  LINE 

Upon  its  stalk  the  gilded  statue  stands 

At  Albert  town  upon  the  Old  Front  Line, 
The  Virgin  and  the  Child,  before  whose  shrine 

The  sad  in  Autumn's  solitary  bands 

Made  Pilgrimage  to  touch  the  sacred  hands. 
A  passing  shot  has  bent  the  form  divine 
Till  downward,  mute,  the  pitying  eyes  incline, 

The  Diving  Angel  thus  the  way  commands. 

When  will  she  fall?  for  then  the  war  will  end 

The  word  has  gone;  for  those  who  know  no  creed 

But  slavery  and  might  and  lust  and  greed, 
It  matters  not,  for  they  in  vain  contend 

With  spirit;  but  the  right  will  right  defend 

Till  death, — "they  shall  not  pass"  it  is  decreed. 


33 


"No  people  can  be  bound  to  ac 
knowledge  and  adore  the  Invisible 
Hand  which  conducts  the  affairs  of  men 
more  than  those  of  the  United  States." 

— Washington's  First  Inaugural  Address, 
1789. 


34 


WASHINGTON 

Acclaim  him  victor  with  the  fronded  palm, 
Upon  whose  brow  the  seal  of  state  was  set 
Within  whose  heart  sits  freedom  throned  yet; 

His  country  safe  from  tyrant  and  all  harm, 

Immortal  were  his  deeds;  immortal  charm 
The  spell  he  cast;   within  his  soul  were  met 
Soldier  and  gentleman:    a  nation's  debt 

Upheld,  upborn  upon  his  mighty  arm. 

Majestic  leader,  freeman  to  the  core 

Across  the  flood,  upon  the  bristling  plain, 

Undauntedly  the  flag  of  truth  he  bore; 
In  vassalage  may  alien  ne'er  again 

The  nation  bind,  whose  armor  first  he  wore; 
His  name  we  love,  his  glory  ne'er  shall  wane. 


35 


"I  believe  that  the  true  happiness  of  man  consists 
in  fulfilling  the  will  of  God." 

— Count  Leon  Tolstoi. 


36 


TOLSTOI 

Great  servant  thou  who  sought  thy  brother,  friend 
And  kinship  mid  the  humblest  of  birth, 
Thou  peasant-prince,  yet  simple  child  of  earth 

Who  turned  aside  to  duty's  pathway  wend, 

Whose  vision  saw  God's  purpose  in  each  end 
The  spirit's  resurrection  out  of  dearth; 
Thou  elder  brother  of  the  pauper,  serf, 

Noblesse  oblige  nobilities  defend. 

Not  Russia's  savant  but  the  world's  thou  art, 

Exponent  of  divine  humanity, 
Thy  friendly  face  illumines  palace,  mart; 

The  herald  of  the  truth  that  makes  men  free, 
Life's  dire  wrongs  the  sorrow  of  thy  heart, 

Great  prophet  of  the  age  that  is  to  be. 


37 


'Honour  has  come  back,  as  a  king  to  earth,    .    .   . 
And  we  have  come  into  our  heritage." 

— Rupert  Brooke. 


— "In  his  young  eyes  a  sudden  glory  shone : 
And  I  was  dazzled  by  a  sudden  glow, 
And  he  was  gone." 

— Wilfrid  Wilson  Gibson. 


38 


RUPERT  BROOKE 

Fair  son  of  England,  of  true  British  mood 
In  whom  the  lamp  of  rising  genius  burned, 
For  freedom  thou  hadst  ever  yearned, 

At  peace  or  war,  triumphant  or  subdued 

Thou  rose  but  higher ;   if  from  lesser  feud 

Life's  greater  lesson  thou  hadst  never  learned 
And  hatred  to  a  higher  purpose  turned, 

Then  passion  had  thy  gentle  heart  not  wooed. 

What  meaneth  life,  except  the  soul  aspire 
To  lofty  heights,  and  climbing  ever  higher 

Mid  yearning  song  and  sorrow's  sober  sighing, 
At  last  to  find  amid  its  vainest  crying 

What  thou  hath  found,  and  cometh  ever  nigher 
The  perfect  peace  thou  findeth  in  the  dying. 


"Five  rAmerique!   Vive  la  France! 
Vive  la — Vive  la  France!" 

— Percy  Mackaye. 


40 


TO  GREGORY 

America,  in  youth's  magnificance, 

Thy  sons  embark  upon  the  blood-stained  wave, 
Fearless  in  face  of  death  and  nameless  grave, 

Young,  noble,  true,  daring  the  awful  chance 

Of  war,  les  braves,  les  Corps  des  Ambulances, 
Truest  of  true  and  bravest  of  the  brave 
Not  life  to  take  but  human  life  to  save, 

For  Papa  Joffre,  and  fame,  Somewhere  in  France! 

Strong  stalwart  son,  may  the  rich  gifts  so  free 
You  give,  thy  faith  so  plenteous,  so  rare, 

Symbols  of  nation  loving  liberty, 

In  every  fortune  that  may  fall  to  thee, 

Bring  hope  to  those  opprest,  this  be  our  prayer 

That  God  may  keep  thee  safe  from  harm  Out  There. 


41 


"Aesculapius,  son  of  Apollo. 
By  his  skill  he  restored  the  dead  to  life. 
His  function  was  the  art  of  healing/* 

— Classic  Myths  of  English  Literature. 


42 


THE  CADUCEUS 

Thou  mystic  wand  of  Aesculapius, 

Which  upright  on  a  golden  distaff  gleams; 

The  emblem  of  the  Priest  and  Medicus 

A  magic  power  hath  o'er  sleep  and  dreams. 

The  'twined  serpents  and  the  winged  rod 

The  mace,  the  snake,  thy  sons'  insignia; 

The  herald's  staff,  the  sceptre  of  the  god, 

Bright  ensigns  of  the  heavenly  Messenger. 

The  Serpent,  sacred  symbol  of  the  truth, 

In  ancient  fane  of  Asclepiadae 

Its  life  renews  personifying  youth; 

Thus  Wisdom  clothes  herself  in  deity. 

Grant  us,  O  god  whose  charm  the  dead  can  raise, 
More  skill  to  save, — and  to  thy  name  the  praise. 


43 


'Thy  country  now  is  all  humanity." 
— G.  E.  Woodberry:  Edith  Cavell. 


44 


THE  RED  CROSS 

A  crimson  Cross  upon  a  field  of  white 
Emblem  of  truth  and  man's  humanity 
Symbol  of  deathless  love  and  loyalty; 

Where'er  thy  flag  is  raised  in  freedom's  fight 

Whate'er  the  place,  whate'er  the  time  or  plight, 
To  friend  or  foe  alike  thy  fealty 
Thy  name  the  synonym  of  purity, 

Beneath  thy  banner  right  shall  conquer  might. 

Friend  of  the  desolate  and  sore  opprest, 
On  field  or  wave  where  honor  of  the  sea 

Is  violate;  against  the  bleeding  breast 
Of  dying  heroes  thy  red  seal  is  prest 

By  some  White  Sister  of  sweet  charity, 
Who  thus  upholds  thy  sacred  chivalry. 


45 


"War  is  a  violent  trade.'* 

—Schiller. 


"There  are  no  neutrals  in  this  war. 
...  I  have  stood  on  Germany's  side, 
I  have  walked  in  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  neutrality,  I  have  stood  and 
now  stand  irrevocably  with  the  cause 
of  the  Allies,  which,  thank  God,  is  now 
the  cause  of  America." 

— Hermann  Hagedorn: 
Where  Do  You  Stand? 


46 


TO  HERMANN  HAGEDORN 

Not  yours  in  language  obsolete  to  sing 

Of  distant  days  in  tongue  of  Celt  or  Greek, 
Of  ancient  scenes,  when  preying  on  the  weak 

The  strong  survive,  when  emperor  and  king 

Their  broken  arms  against  time's  bulwark  fling. 
But  yours  the  message  of  the  strong  though  meek, 
To  brothers  who  for  each  and  all  must  speak, 

And  to  a  world  reborn  allegiance  bring. 

The  borders  of  that  fatherland  which  hurled 
Defiance  to  the  earth  cannot  command 

The  voices  of  those  souls  who  thrilled  the  world 
To  quietude.     Lo!  Schiller  speaks,  and  grand 

The  voice  of  Kant :  the  flag  of  peace  unfurled 
Shall  bear  a  sign  all  men  can  understand. 


47 


"I  have  gone  sometimes  by  the  gates  of  Death 
And  stood  beside  the  cavern  through  whose  doors 
Enter  the  voyagers  into  the  unseen/* 

— Alan  Seeger. 


48 


GONE  EAST 

Into  the  Sunset's  golden  glow — gone  West, 
Brave  souls;    from  pain  and  battle  din  releast 
For  them  the  awful  wrack  of  war  hath  ceast — 

They  sleep;    yet  at  the  purple  dawn's  behest 

They  rise  to  seek  afar  the  soul's  fair  quest, 

Earth's  wisdom  gained,  in  heaven's  sight  increast. 
But  some  from  out  the  West  rose-hued  go  East 

Into  the  Morn,  the  lovliest  and  best. 

For  East  is  West  and  West  is  East,  afar 

Envisaged  in  the  light  eternal  glow 
The  crystal  Sun's  celestial  rays  which  are 

Reflected  in  each  form,  through  aeons  flow. 
Beyond  the  blue  there  gleams  a  silver  star 

Each  voyager  shall  sense  and  glimpse  and  know. 


49 


"Lafayette,  we  are  here.'* 

— General  Pershing. 


"What  could  be  so  incredible,  as  for 
a  Roman  knight  to  celebrate  a  second 
triumph  .  .  .?" 

— Cicero. 


50 


LAFAYETTE 

Let  us  thy  name,  thine  honor,  ne'er  forget 
The  loyalty  of  thine  oppressed  state 
The  simple  token  of  thine  high  estate ; 

Thou,  who,  when  fast  the  tide  of  battle  set 

Against  America,  held  firm:  still  yet 
For  France  a  glorious  liberty  as  great 
Shall  come  to  pass;  for  her  a  happy  fate 

Vouchsafed  by  us  who  pay  the  priceless  debt. 

We  come  to  place  a  wreath  upon  thy  bier, 

And  homage  pay  to  none  more  great  save  one, 
And  he  alone — our  peerless  Washington — 

From  Cantigny,  Chateau  Thierry,  La  Fere 
To  finish  thy  great  task  so  well  begun, 

A  spirit  moves, — Our  hero,  "We  are  here!" 


51 


"The  supreme  test  of  the  nation  has 
come.  We  must  all  speak,  act  and 
serve  together." 

—President  Wilson,  Message  to  the 

American  People,  April   15,   1917. 


THE  MEN  WHO  STAY  AT  HOME 

Prosaic  souls,  for  them  who  stay  at  hone 
A  host  of  cares,  a  modicum  of  praise 
And  just  the  round  of  solitary  days; 

For  them  no  Marne,  no  St  Mihiel,  no  Somme, 

But  weeks  of  weary  toil  at  plough  or  loom; 
To  keep  alive  tradition's  sacred  ways 
To  keep  the  heart  unsullied  that  still  prays 

For  peace,  when  restive  spirit  fain  would 


The  call  to  arms  means  not  the  field  for  all 
The  will  to  serve  may  bind  the  swiftest  feet, 

While  duties  faithful  done  both  great  and  small 
The  fatal  day  and  issue  may  defeat 

And  to  the  Victors  and  to  those  who  fall 
May  make  the  cost  of  sacrifice  more  sweeL 


'For  such  as  this  men  die,  nor  hesitate.'* 

— Maxwell  Struthers  Burt:  The  Land. 


54 


VICTORY 

Defenders  of  the  nation's  faith  all  hail ! 
On  distant  sea  or  shore  and  far  afield, 
Against  the  enemies  of  peace  rough-steeled, 

You  falter  not;  neath  battle's  brunt  nor  quail, 

Outnumbered  oft,  know  not  such  word  as  fail. 

Beneath  your  thrusts  the  flagging  foe  must  yield, 
Laon,  Cambrai,  Saint  Quentin's  bloody  field, — 

Before  such  odds  can  right  alone  prevail. 

In  foreign  land,  amid  the  toil  and  heat 

Of  battle,  as  with  strength  of  arms  and  speed 

The  foe  you  hurl  in  rout  and  full  retreat, 
When  tide  of  war  ebbs  hot,  if  you  who  bleed 

But  feel  the  flush  of  triumph  more  complete, — 
Then  death  itself  were  victory  indeed! 


55 


"There  shall  be  established  a  League 
of  Nations,  associated  under  specific 
covenants,  which  shall  guarantee  the 
political  independence  and  territorial 
integrity  of  large  and  small  nations 
alike,  henceforth." 

— From    America's    Peace   Terms,    as    out 
lined   by   President   Wilson. 


56 


TO  GERMANY  IN  DEFEAT 

What  profit  thinkest  thou  to  still  contend 
In  bitter  conflict  for  false  ends  begun, 
Dost  cherish  still  a  place  within  the  Sun? 

Why  longer  with  thy  weakened  arms  pretend 

To  dictate  to  those  forces  which  defend 
The  rights  of  man;  the  spirit  of  the  Hun 
Must  first  be  vanquished  e'er  the  cause  be  won, 

E'er  thou  again  deserve  the  name  of  friend. 

Canst  hope  the  hand  of  unrelenting  fate 
Which  sets  its  tragic  seal  upon  the  scroll 

Of  time,  will  blot  away  the  bloody  toll, 
The  awful  sins  of  thy  despotic  hate, 

If  thou  build  not  an  Independant  State; — 
What  profiteth,  except  to  save  thy  soul? 


57 


"Till  the  war-drum  throbb'd  no  longer, 
and  the  battle  flags  were  furl'd 

In  the  Parliament  of  Man,  the  Federa- 
tion  of  the  World." 

— Tennyson. 


'And  in  a  league  of  Peace — God  grant  we  may — 
Transform  the  earth,  not  patch  up  the  old  plan." 

— Robert  Bridges. 

"America  is  thinking  beyond  wars." 
— H.  G.  Wells. 


58 


OUR  COUNTRY 

Our  country  is  the  world,  and  day  and  night 

America  in  loyalty  to  thee, 

To  those  at  home  and  those  across  the  sea, 
Wherever  war  has  left  its  awful  blight 
Where'er  thy  sons  'neath  freedom's  banner  fight, 

Our  hearts  we  pledge  to  man's  democracy 

Our  souls  we  pledge  to  God's  theocracy, 
Till  right  hath  triumphed  o'er  inglorious  might. 

Where  liberty  is  not,  to  make  men  free 
Our  lives  we  give,  our  fortunes,  and  afar 

Thy  legions  flung  to  lands  beyond  the  sea, 
Amid  the  darkling  clouds  of  war  thy  star 

Shall  light  the  shining  path  to  victory, 
One  country  and  one  world,  America! 


59 


"I  know  that  He  will  come  for  me 
to-morrow.'* 

— From  "The  Comrade  in  White." 


60 


THE  PERFECT  WAY 

What  miracle,  amid  the  throes  of  war 
When  hostile  armies  clash  in  battle  peal 
As  votaries  before  the  gods  of  steel, 

Where  cruel  cold  and  hungry  vultures  claw 

And  nations  each  another's  vitals  gnaw; 
As  rising  from  the  altars  where  they  kneel, 
And  seeing  could  but  fathom  what  they  feel, 

Would  not  each  soul  transfixed  be  in  awe? 

If  from  the  Cross  whereon  He  lowly  hung 
The  bleeding  Christ  amid  the  hell  be  flung, 

Before  the  foe  all  naked  midst  the  fray; 
Would  not  each  host  its  silent  arms  reverse 

Would  not  a  prayer  ring  out  for  every  curse, 
And  peace  not  war  become  the  perfect  way? 


61 


"Make  no  more  giants,  God, 
But  elevate  the  race  at  once!" 

— Browning's  Paracelsus. 


"How  will  it  seem  when  Peace  comes  back  once  more, 
After  these  desperate  days  of  shattering  pain?" 

— Charles  Hanson  Towne: 
How  Will  It  Seem. 


62 


THE  COMING  RACE 

What  promise  hath  the  future  for  the  race 
What  balm  to  soothe  the  troubles  of  this  age, 
Will  history  but  turn  another  page 

Red-hued,  which  time  alone  can  scarce  erase? 

Or  will  the  patient  years  the  scars  efface, 
The  child  of  earth  attain  his  heritage 
The  mediocre  man  become  the  sage, 

And  each  his  brother  welcome  face  to  face? 

Above  the  battle's  din,  beyond  all  wars 
The  stricken  cries  of  souls  in  slavery 

Arise;  and  loud  and  clear  the  one  pure  cause 
Of  freedom  and  the  rights  of  liberty: 

Grant  us,  O  God,  a  brotherhood  of  laws, 
Where  men  unite  to  serve  humanity. 


63 


PRODUCED  BY 

GURREY'S,  LTD., 

HONOLULU 


YB   14472 


.'.487  1 5 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


